1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip for securing sound absorbing panels to a supporting structure and the resulting system made possible thereby.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, industry has become aware of the need for industrial noise pollution control, and this has generated a need for systems to provide such control. Previous systems have been merely sound absorbing material draped from the ceiling or panels of sound absorbing material rigidly attached to the walls in the area for the purpose of absorbing the sound. Prior to the present invention there has yet to be developed a system making use of removable panels to achieve access to the supporting structure behind the panels. Additionally, prior to this invention, there has not been developed a system which can be installed over a supporting structure that has utility pipes or the like on the surface thereof without some type of additional construction to support the sound absorbing panels. The new system provided herein fulfills the requirement of this long felt need.
Clips for retaining panels to supporting structures are not new. Norwegian Patent N.R. 73,842 illustrates a clip with prongs at the end for engaging a kerfed portion of a panel. Removability of this system is not good, however, and the attachment to the supporting structure is not sufficiently rigid to accept and support a panel, since the object of the clip is merely to center the panel and not to support its weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,004 illustrates panels with openings along the rim thereof, and clips which merely have one projection for engaging the openings. One clip in this structure, however, cannot accommodate two separate and distinct panels thereby limiting versatility and adaptability of the systems. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,182 illustrates a clip that can accommodate two panels, but the panel must either be kerfed or designed to fit into a slot in the clip, and the clip can only be attached to the supporting structure through a channel arrangement. No showing is made of attaching the clip to a flat supporting structure. In British Patent No. 658,209, a building block system is shown with a block in an H-shape, but while the design resembles the clip of this invention, its use could not be extended to the present system since it has none of the design features for accommodating sound absorbing panels and was, in effect, meant only for use as spacers or building blocks.
In British Patent No. 506,438, concrete slabs were attached to walls by angle iron members deformed at one end to engage the concrete blocks. This system did not provide for ready removability of the panels, and the resulting system was anything but sound absorbing.
U.S. Patent No. 1,052,670 disclosed building veneer attachments with a clip having a wall plate, a projection, and legs extending from the end of the projection, but only one type of attachment was disclosed and there was no mobility within the system to accommodate changes in the supporting structure surface. Additionally, this system did not provide for removing of any of the panels without removing all of the panels in a series.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,142,305 disclosed clips for attaching building units, but these were rigid units and the clip merely attached the two together rather than providing for hanging of a sound absorbing system. Additionally, the disclosure was made only to horizontal systems and was not contemplated to be a system designed to cover a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,375 illustrated clips used for attaching wall sheathing to a wall but only one type of attachment was disclosed, and the system could not accommodate irregularities in the wall surface. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 2,279,515 illustrated furnace wall construction wherein panels were attached together by clips, but the clipping required concealment of the clip in a kerfing in order not to expose the clip to the conditions in the furnace.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,870 illustrated a clip for installing removable wall facing panels, but the clip merely illustrated two equal size arms on the end of a projection which would accommodate the kerfing in a facing panel and required kerfing of the facing panel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,983 disclosed a similiar system, but the attachment to the wall supporting structure required a channel member within the scope of that disclosure. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 3,466,825 showed a clip with projections from the end thereof, but the system was rigid, not removable, and required the clip to be firmly driven into the wall panel.
Other patents disclosing clips for attaching wall panels include U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,480 which disclosed a clip comprising a wall plate with a projection from one end thereof, and a button shaped projection on the outside of the clip to engage kerfing in the wall panel. This system did not provide for any type of sound absorption and could engage the panels only when on the top or bottom thereof, with wedging or some other feature being necessary to use the clip if it was to be attached to the sides of the panels. Additionally, it could not accommodate irregularities in the supporting structure unless a frame were built around the irregularity. Perhaps the closest design in the clip of the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,435,172 wherein a clip has a wall plate, a projection, and legs at the end of the projection, but, again, this system is for wall furnaces, and the system lacked sound absorption properties, and one panel was not removable without removing the entirety of a row of panels.
In all of the prior systems, the panels making use of attachment by the disclosed clips have either not been removable without removing an entire series of panels, or else the clip could not be used to attach a multiplicity of panels. In those few designs which could have indicated the possibilty of arriving at this type of system, there was no provision made for sound absorption or for accommodating irregularities in the supporting structure.
The new and novel clip of this invention, and the sound absorbing system made possible thereby, has overcome all of the difficulties associated with trying to use prior types of clips in attaching sound absorbing panels to supporting structures.